Weekend beercast: Open The Taps launch party at Moon Tower Inn

Open The Taps, the lobbying group founded to represent craft-beer consumers in Austin, is hosting an official launch party Saturday at the Moon Tower Inn.

OTP, founded locally by five friends well known for their informed enthusiasm concerning our favorite beverage, has applied for 501(c)(6) nonprofit status and is seeking an initial round of “100 for 100” members. That is, they want to find 100 craft-beer lovers willing to kick in $100 apiece in each of Texas’ four biggest metro areas to provide seed money for educational campaigns and lobbying efforts to push for changes in state laws and regulations that would help craft brewers inside and outside of Texas. Lesser memberships will be available as well.

If you haven’t me these guys — Ted Duchesne, Leslie Sprague, Chris White, Cathy Clark Rascoe and John Speights — this will be a good chance to do so.

BEERCAST FOR JULY 23

What: Open The Taps founders will be on hand to talk about the group and its aims and to sign up members.

There are enough worthy events planned in and around Houston that no beer lover can ever complain there’s nothing to do, nowhere to go. In fact, I think the scene here is vibrant enough to warrant a weekly feature, the Weekend Beercast, to highlight the highlights on the near horizon. You can help by submitting suggestions to ronnie.crocker@chron.com. I’ve shown a commitment to covering the suburbs as well, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’ve got an event planned beyond the Beltway.